Developing research questions & objectives

purpose, question, and objectives

Driving force of any research study is the \___ \___ \__ \___ of the research

Research Topic

Idea, subject, concern or issue concerning one's discipline or professions; requires exploring existing or potential issues in clinical practice, theory, and professional literature; may arise from our curiosity or interest in certain areas of the discipline; Initial phase of the process of looking for a question

Research Problem

Situation in need of a solution or improvement, Clear and broad statement/s of a knowledge gap, Provides foundation for delineating a specific research question, Starts to focus on the direction of the study

Research Question

Specific statement (either in declarative or interrogative form) that defines the focus of the study, identify the target population, and the various variables involved, and the rationale of the study, Specific and defined, Declarative or interrogatory statement

Significance/ Impact

Contribution of the findings of the research to the knowledge base and to members of the the society, Able to identify potential benefits of the results of the study to a certain professions or a number of disciplines & to the members of society, Should be able to clearly identify the societal impact of the findings of the research

Purpose Statement

Declarative statement of the goals or objectives of the study, Guides the researchers in designing the study or the research in general

Clinical Experience

Sources of Research Problems: Encountering a dilemma, or curiosity about the effectiveness of a certain tool or invention, or objectively document the effects of a treatment on a certain client population or setting, We should be able to draw from our own personal interactions with our clients and our colleagues in the healthcare team

Clinical Theory

Sources of Research Problems: Governs our practice, We might be interested in knowing further the principles behind the theory and the clinical outcomes that would support or refute the existence of such theory, Own personal experiences or interactions with clients serve as the basis for a research question

Professional Literature (Body of Knowledge)

Sources of Research Problems: By being immersed in the professional literature, we are able to help identify issues of significance (are there goals/gaps in the professional knowledge? Are there conflicts in literature? Are there disagreements?)

Select Topic of Interest

1 STAGES OF FORMULATING A RESEARCH QUESTION

Research topic

Can arise from intellectual curiosity or specific areas of our discipline, Special interest, Can range from patient population, intervention, clinical theory, policy issue

State the Research Problem

2 STAGES OF FORMULATING A RESEARCH QUESTION

Research problem

Provides the foundation of focusing or delineating a specific research question

State the Research Problem

Key things to look out for: " there is little information..." Findings of previous studies are conflicting..." Few studies have been done..." No study on (group or population) has been previously done..."

Define the research question

3 STAGES OF FORMULATING A RESEARCH QUESTION

Define the research question

identify the target population (study participants, groups of people who will benefit from it), state the rationale or background of the study, identify the variables

Important

Components that shape the research question: Importance and feasibility: - "so what?" test (Is it significant? what can it contribute to the society/ knowledge base?)

Answerable

Components that shape the research question: Importance and feasibility: observable or tangible outcomes

Feasible

Components that shape the research question: Importance and feasibility: Is it really practical to conduct this research? What resources do we need in terms of human population, budget, administration, safety, and logistical arrangements?

Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant

FINER criteria (Hulley et al., 2013)

FINER criteria

this criteria highlights that a good research question is ethical (basic principles of ethical practice are addressed or observed *justice, beneficence, respect for persons)

Target population

Components that shape the research question: Who do we want to study? What are the characteristics of the population concerned? Are the participants from this population available?

Research rationale

Components that shape the research question: background for the research question, clarifies the research objective, What was the framework?

Variables

Components that shape the research question: building blocks of your research question, need to provide operational definition, provide characteristics of the variables that you are interested in

Descriptive and correlationa

(concerned with characterizing certain phenomena or entities)

Exploratory and experimental

(establishing relationships among two or more variables & predicting outcomes & establishing the influence of one variable over another)

Clarify research objectives

4 STAGES OF FORMULATING A RESEARCH QUESTION

Specific aims or guiding questions

Forms of research objective: guiding questions that describe the study's purpose

Hypothesis

Forms of research objective: setting expectations or making an educated guess about the outcome of the study

Specific aims or guiding questions, Hypothesis, Purpose of the research, Research objective

Forms of research objective:

Clarify research objectives

importance: final step in delineating a researchable question

Descriptive

Types of research objective: characterizes phenomena or existing conditions in a certain population or setting

Related to measuring instruments

Types of research objective: investigating the psychometric properties of certain assessment tools

Exploration of relationships

Types of research objective: establishing the relationship between two or more factors

Comparison (cause and effect)

Types of research objective: used in a experimental model, evaluates the differences between groups, or the effectiveness of an intervention